Last week I mentioned I’d start a new
feature this week. Twice a month on Fridays, I’ll write about a restaurant I’ve
visited (and loved! Only good reviews here). Whenever possible, I’ll share
something about the restaurant or the chef.

And for the record, I’m paying for my
own meal at all the restaurants I visit. I choose them because I want to visit
them, and my opinions are entirely my own.

I visited Mai Bistro a couple of weeks ago with
my friend Dale. The location was perfect, just steps away from our church. We
sat on the tiny front patio not knowing anything about the restaurant except
that it served a combination of Asian and South American food, and offered share plates, which would let us sample an array of dishes.

I loved everything we ordered. If I had to
pick main course favourites, I’d go with the lamb curry spring rolls (easily
the best spring rolls I’ve ever eaten) and the Vietnamese style pork tacos. The
next time I visit, I’ll start my order with these two items. And my favourite
overall dish was the peaches poached in port wine and served with mango ice
cream. Whenever I see a menu item this simple, I know it’s going to be
wonderful.

After I came home, I read a little about
the chef/owner Manh Nguyen, and realized why our meal was so spectacular. A
Japanese chef by training, he was the sous chef at the Intercontinental Hotel
in Caracas Venezuela. He returned to Toronto as the chef at the popular
Supermarket restaurant, where he was named one of the Top 10 Chefs in Toronto
in 2005.

The evening we ate at Mai Bistro, Nguyen
came over to talk to us, and I found him friendly and unpretentious. I later
chatted with him for the purposes of this blog post, and asked about his most
memorable culinary experience. He told me this story:

Five years ago, he was participating in an
Iron Chef competition in Toronto, hosted by Matt Galloway, one of Toronto’s
best-known morning show hosts. The judges included popular Toronto chef Susur
Lee, well-known international chef Martin Yan, and the acclaimed food writer
Andrew Chase. One of the dishes Nguyen prepared was a smoked trout prepared in
tea. One of the judges – who shall remain nameless – took a bite of the trout
and announced, “This is the best salmon I’ve ever eaten in my life!”

Nguyen the man is charming, and Nguyen the
chef is unbelievably talented. Mai Bistro is one of those amazing little
restaurants you happen upon by word of mouth. I tried it on the recommendation of Sarah from my favourite bookstore. Now I hope I can spread the word!